Reference
Steel building reference library
Dimension and geometry references for planning a steel building, with every figure either computed or cited to a published source.
- Pages
- 13 planning references
- Numbers
- Computed or cited
- Units
- Feet and inches
- Scope
- Dimensions, not engineering
How to use it
What this library is for
Buying a steel building means answering dimension questions before you have a building to measure. These pages give you the numbers to answer them: footprints in common use, published door and vehicle specifications, and the geometry that connects span, pitch and height. Every figure is either computed on the page or linked to the document it came from.
Category
Garage dimensions
Footprints by car count, with the clearance each width leaves once vehicles are parked.
- Garage dimensionsGarage footprints in common use run from about 12 x 20 for a single car to 40 x 40 for four, and the width you choose decides how much room is left around the vehicles.
- 1 car garage dimensionsSingle-car garages are commonly planned between 12 x 20 and 16 x 24; the extra two to four feet of width is what makes the driver's door usable next to a wall.
- 2 car garage dimensionsTwo-car garages are commonly planned between 20 x 20 and 30 x 30; width decides whether both doors open comfortably, and depth decides whether anything can live in front of the vehicles.
- 3 car garage dimensionsThree-car garages are commonly planned between 30 x 30 and 40 x 30 three-across, or around 24 x 40 as a tandem, and per-stall width is the number that decides which works.
- 4 car garage dimensionsFour cars are commonly planned as a 40 to 48 foot wide four-across bay or a squarer two-by-two footprint, and the two layouts need very different door walls.
Category
Building and vehicle fit
Sizing a building around a published RV, aircraft or covered-parking envelope.
- RV garage dimensionsSize the building from your own RV's published height and length, not from a class average: the door has to clear roof-mounted equipment, and the depth has to clear the hitch.
- Carport sizesCarport width is measured post to post, so the usable cover is always narrower than the number on the order — that gap is what decides whether doors open under it.
- Aircraft hangar dimensionsA hangar is sized from the aircraft's published wingspan and tail height plus a side margin you state — the aircraft dimension and the building dimension are never the same number.
Category
Doors and openings
Opening sizes, the wall they consume and the eave height they need.
Category
Roof geometry
Pitch conversions, roof area and ridge height, computed rather than tabulated by hand.
Category
Arena and agricultural planning
Published riding-arena dimensions and the clear span a covered arena needs.
Category
Terminology
The dimension words a supplier will ask you for, on one labelled section.
Where these lead
From a dimension to a building
A dimension is a starting point, not an order. Once you know the footprint you need, the size pages show what suppliers actually build at that footprint, and the building type pages show what that footprint is normally used for.
Keep planning
Next step
Answers
Common questions
No. They are footprints and openings in common use, plus published manufacturer and governing-body specifications. Where a figure is a planning input rather than a published one, the page says so and shows the input.
No. Span capacity, member sizing, load values and foundation design are engineering outputs specific to your site and manufacturer. This library covers dimensions and geometry only.
Planning a building?
Know the footprint you need?
Move from a planning dimension to a real building size, then to quotes from suppliers who build that size.
Requesting information does not require a purchase.